A FEARLESS firefighter who was on duty the night Coventry Cathedral was bombed has celebrated his 100th birthday.

Dennis Bick attended scores of plane crashes and worked through the Blitz in Coventry and Birmingham during the Second World War.

He celebrated his milestone birthday with a nostalgic return to Solihull Fire Station, where he was based during the war.

Dennis had joined the Auxiliary Fire Service in 1938, a year before war broke out.

He was initially based at Sheldon Action Station but was quickly promoted to Company Officer at the main Solihull Fire Station in 1940.

“I enjoyed being part of the service. It was an important part of my life,” recalled Dennis who lives at Solihull.

“I served through the Coventry and Birmingham Blitz, an experience you never forget and never want to see again.’’

He added: “The night Coventry Cathedral was bombed will always remain in my memory. There was 500 bombers over Coventry that night.

'‘We went in about 5pm that evening and I came out about lunchtime the following day.

“We didn’t get the appliances out for eight days. It was impossible - there were craters everywhere.

“But it’s a strange thing, going through the war. The things you remember the most are the funny things. Your brain shuts off from the bad.”

Dennis later became Company Officer for the Home Office Fire Brigade in London, before quitting the service in 1946 to resume his career as an architect, at the Ministry of Works.

He and his beloved late wife Audrey - who passed away in 1996 - had two daughters, five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

Dennis celebrated his centenary on October 21 with friends and family at Nuthurst Grange Hotel, Hockley Heath, before Solihull Commander Dave Boucher invited him back to his former station this week.

“It’s a privilege and an honour to have such a distinguished former service member back,” said Dave.

“When you’re in the fire service, you’re part of the family for life.”

Dennis, a keen pianist who still plays every day, added: “It’s about 70 years since I was here last. When I was here it was quite primitive, just a control room and about six cottages. Now it’s completely transformed.”